Indianapolis Animal Care Services Board Meeting - March 23, 2026
Indianapolis Animal Care Services Board Meeting - March 23, 2026
The Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) Board meeting was called to order at 8:30 AM on March 23, 2026, by Director Amanda De Honey Hinkle. The board lacked quorum, so Resolutions 0326 and 0426 were tabled, and the February meeting minutes could not be adopted. The meeting proceeded with operational and statistical reports.
Discussion Items
- Shelter Statistics (February 2026): Total intake was 701 animals, total outcome was 713, and the live release rate was 89.22%. Enforcement statistics included 212 reports by ACOs, 50 reported bites, 117 summons and citations, 63 investigations, and officers responded to 1,970 runs.
- Volunteer Report: Volunteer hours at the shelter totaled 1,328, 50 hours at special events, and 85 hours for Doggy Day Out, for a total of 1,463 hours.
- Vacancy Report: Several key positions have been filled, including deputy director, enforcement manager, and most enforcement supervisors. However, the Public Information Officer, rescue coordinator (transitioned to a different role), foster coordinator (transitioned to placement manager), IndyCare coordinator, and veterinarian remain open. Animal control officer staffing has 18 filled out of 23, with four offers pending. Kennel technicians have 15 of 17 filled, with one offer out.
- Operational Improvements: Over the past eight months (July 1, 2025 to March 15, 2026), animal intake increased by 28%, live outcomes increased by 27%, rescue transfers increased by 46%, adoptions increased by 17%, and average length of stay decreased by 19%. The live release rate has been maintained at 88.83%.
- New Shelter Update: Construction is nearing completion. Dog kennels are being installed (one finished, others started), cat cages arrived and installation begins this week. Punch list walkthroughs begin March 24. The shelter is on track to open in the first week of May 2026.
Key Outcomes
- Resolutions 0326 and 0426 were tabled due to lack of quorum.
- Adoption of the February 2026 minutes was tabled.
- No votes or formal decisions were made; the meeting was informational.
Meeting Transcript
Alright, it's 8 30, so I will call to order the board meeting for Indianapolis Animal Care Services. Today's date is March 23rd, 2026. We can start. Let's start with introductions. I'm Amanda De Honey Hinkle, the director of IACS. Brett Kruger, mayoral appointee. Angela Finch, board secretary. And James Finlayson, I'll be presenting. Okay. We do we don't have quorum today, so we're gonna have to table the two resolutions. Um that's resolution number 0326 and resolution 0426. Can we adopt minutes if we don't have quorum from last meeting? No. No, okay. And we will also have to table our adoption of minutes from our February meeting. So I'm gonna go over our sharp shelter stats for February. So our total intake for February was 701 animals. Total outcome was 713. Our live release rate for February was 89.22. As far as forcement assistance statistics, goodness. Um reports by ACOs were 212. Total bites reported were 50. Summons and citations issued were 117, and investigation in pounds were 63, and officers responded to 1,970 runs for the month of February. I know yours is a little different. I can pass them over to our animal care uh volunteer report for 2020 or February 2026 at the shelter. Um, number of hours volunteered were 1,328 at special events was 50, and our doggy day out hours were 85, giving us a total of 1463. Our vacancy report, uh, we have hired a deputy director that is now filled. We have an administrator, um chief financial officer, manager of operations, volunteer coordinator. Our PIO just left Friday was her last day, so that one is actually vacant again. Uh placement manager is filled, adoptions team lead is filled, adoption counselors. We have six. Uh that whole team is complete. Rescue coordinator, uh, that his last day was also Friday. He is still in the building. He's just going to be a animal care tech now. Yep. So Justin left his spot. Uh feline care coordinator, canon enrichment coordinator, and our foster coordinator. Foster coordinator has transitioned over to the placement manager. So that position is also open. Uh IndyCare's coordinator is currently open. We have IndyCare Specialists, two of them, and both of those are filled. Enforcement forcement manager is filled. Um, enforcement supervisors, all three of those are filled. I believe in January they were not, um, but they are now filled. Customer relations officer, we have one that is filled, and 18 animal control officers were allotted for 23. Um, we have four offers out to people right now, so it should only leave one open. Uh kennel manager is filled, kennel shift leads. We have two kennel technicians, we have 15. Uh, total of 17 should be there.
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